Fisher Body
Founded in 1908.
Albert, Fred and Charles Fisher, whose family had built horse-drawn carriages in Ohio in the late 1800s, Opened Fisher Body in 1908 in Detroit.
They produced car bodies for the likes of Cadillac, Buick, Ford and Studebaker before General Motors purchased 60 percent of the company in 1919.
The six Fisher brothers sold the rest of their shares to GM in 1926, becoming fabulously wealthy in the process, to the tune of $88,000,0000.
Fisher Body existed as a separate division with GM until a 1984 reorganization, when Fisher’s 23 stamping, body-assembly and trim plants were folded into GM’s larger manufacturing organization.
The 1985 models continued to bear Fisher Body’s Napoleonic carriage logo, but by 1996, GM cars carried only division logos.
The Fisher Body Division of General Motors was disbanded as 1984 came to an end
(source: Car & Driver).
The Fisher “V V” (Vision & Ventilation) system was one of the most innovative comfort features available on American closed automobiles during the second half of the 1920s. Although it seems simple today, it was a major selling point before automobiles had heaters, air conditioning, or even effective cowl ventilation.
Unlike earlier split windshields that hinged outward, the Fisher system used a vertically sliding upper windshield panel. A hand crank above the windshield raised the glass several inches. Since Fisher Body supplied bodies to nearly every GM division, millions of Americans became familiar with the “Fisher V V” windshield.
Fisher Body Craftman’s Guild Coach Model.
The featured coach is a model of the corporate marque of the Fisher Body Company, and is one of the finest existing examples of the coach models from the 1930’s.
The Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild was a competition were young men crafted a model coach (later a concept car) to be judged by GM designers and engineers. Winners were awarded significant college scholarships.
The Craftsman’s Guild competition ran from the 1930’s into the late 1960’s. The program grew to be one of the largest youth-oriented contests in the world, and many participants went on to significant design and engineering positions in the automotive industry.
